September 26, 2016

The Q Wunder Movement Event from EQtainment and Tryazon #QWunder

I'm happy to be sharing a recent opportunity that I had to be part of the Q Wunder Movement. Now you may be asking, "what in the world is a Q Wunder Movement?" As parents, we all know that helping children build strong social and emotional skills are a huge factor, especially for their future success in relationships, schooling, career, and even their overall health and happiness.

EQtainment understands this, and has made it their mission to create a collection of children's products that help to improve these skills by developing feeling identification, manners, social skills, creative thinking, and even balance and coordination. Q Wunder is the star of these products and the official EQtainment mascot. He's a kind-hearted cartoon monkey who's quite intelligent, but still seems to get himself into a bit of trouble from time to time. Since Q is still learning some very important lessons about managing his own social and emotional skills, many children will easily relate to him.

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT EQTAINMENT:

EQtainment is on a mission to improve the world’s social and emotional skills through entertaining games, books and our new Q Wunder show and app. Parents and educators love the way EQtainment’s products help kids develop self-awareness, manners, problem solving, empathy, responsibility, grit and more. Kids just love that they’re so much fun! EQtainment has also developed one of the first measurement tools designed to help parents identify and improve their children’s social and emotional skills with customized content delivered via our Q Wunder app.

HOW EQTAINMENT GOT STARTED:

Thanks to Sofia Dickens, a Harvard alumna, mother of 3, and Founder of EQtainment, helping your child learn self control, problem solving, manners, empathy, resilience, leadership and social skills has never been more simple and fun. Through a specially developed app, kids show, games, story books, and more, you can help them on their way to school readiness and the development of these crucial like skills. Your house party guests will be the first to preview/download the new Q Wunder app and kids show, featuring celebrity guests and the animated monkey "Q".

EQtainment, in collaboration with Tryazon, had offered an amazing opportunity to join Q Wunder Movement. For those who may not be familiar with Tryazon. They're a service that matches innovative brands with individuals to host parties and events. Those picked to host a Tryazon event, receive party packs to share with their guests. This is the very first Tryazon event that I've ever had the privilege of being part of, so I was pretty excited to share their products with others.

Throughout this entire week, 3000 people around the United States have or will be taking part of the Q Wunder Movement, hosting a party that showcases the awesome collection of EQtainment products. In my party pack, I received the Q Toys Bundle, which includes:

Q's Race To The Top Game:Meet Q, the genius monkey with A LOT to learn about life. In the board game “Q’s Race to the Top,” children can help Q race to the top of his tree house by answering questions and performing fun actions. The questions are designed to promote feeling identification and verbalization, manners, social skills, creative thinking, balance, and coordination.

Q's On The Go Pack:Because sometimes life doesn't include time to sit down and play, this to-go pack offers 90 question and action cards in a convenient carrying case. Perfect for road trips or waiting for dinner at a restaurant!

Q's Wild Ride CD & Storybook:Q is a lovable genius monkey with a lot to learn when it comes to behavior, social skills, and self-control. Join Q on his wild hovercraft ride as he races to get to the ballpark on time for the game, learning important lessons along the way! This storybook/CD combo is great way for kids to practice their reading and listening skills as the first of Q's many adventures comes to life in the car, classroom, or home.

Q's Coloring Book: Kids will help Q navigate important social scenarios through visual identification as they color in his wild adventures.

Q-Time Buddy:This lovable plush Q becomes a furry friend that helps develop focus and attention span with a simple breathing exercise. The perfect cuddle buddy for the daily quiet time your little one needs to slow down breath and control emotions. Perfect for the classroom, car rides, and at home.

Let me just say, this event (and movement) was a blast to be a part of! The highlight of the event was the Q's Race To The Top game (which was tons of fun....more on that, below). Being a host, I was able to offer sneak peak access to the pilot episode of the new Q Wunder Show, which is both live action and animation. The show was fun to watch and offers kids a very important lesson on having patience. In one part of the cartoon we watched a scene where Q and Michael Strahan (former Giants defensive end) play a game to see who can hold out from eating the cookie that is sitting right in front of them. The person who doesn't give in, wins, and gets two cookies. I won't give too much away, but I will say it was a neat little show for children that touches up on improving social and emotional skills.

No kid's event can be complete without some delicious, healthy snacks!

In my house, we are all about the reading fun. Q's Wild Ride CD & Storybook was a hit to read. At first, I narrated the story. I then popped in the CD, which offers narration by Sophia Dickens (EQtainment founder). The cool part about the CD is that it had all kinds of background sound effects that really brought the story to life for the kids.

You can't have a kid's event without a little coloring action, with Q's Coloring Book we were covered with that. What I really like about this coloring book is that each page has a perforated line that can easily be torn out of the book, allowing multiple children the opportunity to color their favorite page at the same time. It also offered a perfect little lesson on problem solving, being a team player, and thinking outside the box or in this case "the book."

Of course the highlight of the event was the game. Q's Race To The Top was a total blast to play! It's four players, but I thought of a way to create groups if you want to play with more people (another great team building exercise that also fits into the whole Q Wunder Movement). The idea is to get your monkey all the way up to the top of the tree house. There are shoots and tunnels along the way that can bring your monkey closer or even further away from the finish line. After rolling the die on their turn, each player lands on a space that has a color. This color will match one of the three decks of cards. You (blue), Q (green), or Do (red). I do have to note, the cards are what really make this game special, since they aim to help children build up on their social and emotional skills.

"You" cards offer questions about the player and touch up on manners, positive behavior, creative thinking, communication skills, and self-awareness.

"Q" cards allow the player to advise Q on what he should do in a certain situation. These touch up on social skills, managing emotions, manners, positive behavior, and coping.

"Do" cards were the hit of this game, because they involved doing physical activities some were quite funny and even allowed other game players to get involved. These touch up on team work, self-control, coordination, balance, and identifying with feelings.

The Q's On The Go Pack is also really cool, because if offers those same questions and action cards from the Q's Race To The Top game, but they come in a nifty little case that is easy to transport. While showcased at the event, we didn't need to give these a go, because we had plenty of questions and action cards to use in the actual board game. Nonetheless, they are great to have for future Q Wunder events away from home.

Now this event couldn't be complete without our popular little EQtainment mascot, Q. This plush is soft and cuddly with his little green hooded shirt. The plush is slightly weighted and comes with advice on how children can take part in simple breathing exercises to help control their emotions.

I really enjoyed being part of this event and happy to have had the opportunity to share such a valuable set of products that can help kids build on their social and emotional skills in such a fun way. All of these products are geared for children from preschool age to six
years old, but as I've discovered the enjoyment can exceed far above
that age span.

Many thanks to EQtainment and Tryazon for allowing us to be part of the Q Wunder Movement. If you are interested in learning more about about EQtainment and their line of children's products, be sure to check them out online. Readers can also receive 20% off their order by using promo code, HOUSE PARTY, at checkout.